Super Mario Bros. Crossover 3.1 is released, and it includes the lost levels. It’s the final version of the game, so please consider supporting the spiritual successor, Super Action Squad.

People have been asking for The Lost Levels to be added to Super Mario Bros. Crossover for a long time, so we decided to do it. Instead of the usual 32, The Lost Levels has 52 levels. We’ve also included easy and hard versions of each, so that’s an additional 156 levels. That means there is now a total of 348 levels in the game. That’s a lot!

We did not change the physics for Mario and Luigi, so this is not the “true” version of The Lost Levels. Instead, it’s based on the version that was in Super Mario Bros. Deluxe. We didn’t have time to write new code for any of the characters, so this was the only realistic way for us to do it.

We decided to make this the final update to Super Mario Bros. Crossover, so you can now consider the game “done.” It is possible I may release a level editor in the future, but there are no plans as of right now, so consider it a bonus if it happens. For now, the game will continue to only be playable while connected to the Internet, but after Super Action Squad is released, I’ll remove that requirement and will consider releasing the source code.

So… if you are a fan of this game, should you be sad? NO! You should actually be happy. Super Action Squad is the spiritual successor to Super Mario Bros. Crossover, so it’s basically an expanded version of the game without all of the frustrating limits. It’s been in development since August 2013, and it’s coming along fairly well.

Since we want to make Super Action Squad the best game possible, I created an SMBC feedback forum. Please tell us everything you like and don’t like about SMBC, and we’ll keep it in mind while working on SAS. I am especially interested in feedback on the weapon, power-up, and health systems. I feel like they could be better, but it’s hard to figure out the best way to do them, so any ideas are welcome.

And remember, if you like SMBC, the best way for you to see more of it is to support Super Action Squad. My goal with the game is to take the best elements of all platformers, especially retro ones, and combine them into a single game. It’s a difficult task, but we already have a solid foundation to build upon, so I think we can do it.

Super Mario Bros. Crossover 3.0 is released. There are tons of new features in the game, including a total of 192 levels.

Version 3.0 of Super Mario Bros. Crossover is finally complete. This is our biggest update so far, and it features an entirely new set of levels from Super Mario Bros. Special. With the inclusion of difficulty-based maps, there are now 192 levels in the game. Some other notable features are a new difficulty system, a new skin selection system, full-screen support, and several new skins. For a full list of changes, see the version history page.

We are also pleased to announce that the game will no longer be locked to our website. You are free to put the game anywhere you like. The only limitation of playing the game on other websites is full-screen mode; it will only work on our site.

This game has gotten bigger than I ever thought it would, and much of that is thanks to the help of Zach Robinson and Blaine Hanna. I now wish to inform people that it is time for me to move on, so I will no longer be playing a large role in the development of this game. Blaine will now be the lead developer, and I will be spending nearly all of my time on Super Retro Squad.

More levels and skins will certainly be added to the game in the future, but I would probably consider this the last major release. As Super Retro Squad gets further along in development, it will be more difficult for any team members to devote time to this free game when it is filled with intellectual property that we do not own.

I would like to take a moment to thank everyone for making Super Mario Bros. Crossover a huge success. The huge positive response that this game received has changed my life, and it made it possible for me to form a development team and turn Exploding Rabbit into a production studio. I can never thank you enough for that.

Super Mario Bros. Crossover 3.0 is delayed, but I announce some of the new features that are coming.

We won’t be able to get the new version of Super Mario Bros. Crossover done by June 30th. I’m sorry! In order to make up for this disappointing news, let me show you some cool new features coming to version 3.0.

Improved Skin Selection

Changing skins in previous versions of the game was a chore, and many people didn’t even know it was possible. In version 3.0, it’s very easy. Whenever you select a character, you’ll now see a skin selection screen like the one below.

Changing map skins was also difficult and was hidden away in a menu. Now, you can do it directly on the character select screen.

The map skin selection menu shows you a preview of what each skin looks like before you select it.

Revamped Difficulty Settings

The difficulty settings in previous versions didn’t work well. They either made the game too easy or too hard, and there was no customization. Now, all of the options for difficulty can be adjusted separately, so you can choose exactly how you want to play the game.

We also finally got around to adding one of the most requested features:

Cheats

Cheats are always a fun way to change the experience of the game. We added a few new ones that have been requested for a while. Here is one of my personal favorites:

It’s really fun on water levels.

And I realize that people don’t want to have to unlock the cheats by playing through the game every time, so we added a simple way to unlock them. Retro gamers should be able to figure out how to do it.

And of course, there’s also all of the new stuff shown in the trailer, which includes 32 new levels and easy/hard versions of every level. So basically, there are 192 levels in the game.

Why it was Delayed

Even with all of these new features, we would have had the game done in time if we weren’t working on Super Retro Squad at the same time. When we release version 3.0, we’re also going to be releasing some new information about Super Retro Squad. We want people to think of Super Retro Squad when they think about Super Mario Bros. Crossover, so we’re working on some different ways to make that happen.

This release is a big deal for us, so we want to make sure we take the time to get it right. Please be patient and look forward to it. I can personally tell you that this version of the game is magnitudes better than the previous versions. My favorite new feature is the hard versions of levels. You will die a lot, but don’t worry… we provide plenty of extra lives for you!

I don’t like giving specific dates because it’s stressful to get the game done in time, but I am pretty sure it will be out before the end of July. Please accept my sincerest apologies and understand that this delay is for the best. Thanks for your understanding!

Super Mario Bros. Crossover 2.1 is released. It features new skins, an improved upgrade system, and faster music emulation.

It’s been about 10 months since I’ve released an update for Super Mario Bros. Crossover, but that doesn’t mean it’s dead. Now that I have help, it’s possible to keep this game alive while still working on other projects like Super Retro Squad.

This update ended up being bigger than I thought it would. I was planning on just having a few new skins, but I was never quite happy with the upgrade system from the last update, so I revamped it a bit. Adobe also finally released Flascc, so I implemented that and it improved music emulation speed by about 4.5 times. The game still doesn’t run as smoothly as I would like, but optimizing it further would require a huge amount of time and this project is no longer my top priority. A few of the character skins have also been customized to play differently than the original, like Quick Man and Pit.

I really like all the new skin sets, but there are also a lot of new character skins. Some of my personal favorites are Quick Man for Bass (fastest walk speed in the game), Old Man for Link, the Super Mario World skins for Mario and Luigi (added extra sprites for them), Shadow for Ryu (awesome music), Pit for Samus (modified to play more like Pit), Whip Skeleton for Simon, and Tetrimono for SOPHIA. I personally never thought I’d be playing Super Mario Bros. as a block from Tetris, but I’m happy to be doing it.

Thanks to Blaine (sbq92) and Zach (Ryuza) for their help with the update. Blaine did a huge amount of work on it and it probably never would have come out if it weren’t for him. Having a team makes me happy. As always, I’m sure some new bugs have appeared, so please report them and I’ll be fixing them over the next few days.

It’s been 2 years since Super Mario Crossover was released, and many awesome things have happened since then. Also, we added another person to our team.

Today seemed like just another day, but then a bunch of people started saying stuff like “congratulations on two years of success” and “I can’t believe it’s been two years” and then I realized today is the two year anniversary of Super Mario Bros. Crossover‘s release. It seems that quite a bit has happened since that simple day two years ago, and there are many more big things to come.

I figure now is a good time to update people on what’s been going on with Exploding Rabbit. I know I usually do videos to update people, but I’ve been working so much and having so much fun that I haven’t taken the time to do it. I feel like I hit a really nice flow with working on the game. This is probably the smoothest workflow I’ve ever gotten into, and I’ve been making very rapid progress.

But “what am I making progress on” you may ask. I mentioned on the forums recently that I’m porting Super Mario Crossover to the Unity Game Engine. There are many reasons for this, but it’s mainly because it’s more powerful, easier to work with, and most important of all, more fun to work on. This will allow many more possibilities for the game, and I’ve already mentioned on the forums I’ll be adding multiplayer. I have not decided if it will be local or online, but I plan on doing online eventually. Progress on the port is going extremely well. I have all of the sprites, animations, colliders, and most of the palettes imported, so I can start writing game logic soon. It is going much faster than I thought… maybe because I work on it for like 12 hours a day.

I also have another exciting announcement. The Exploding Rabbit team has expanded yet again. We have recruited sbq92 from the forums to help us with the game. I have always been impressed with sbq92’s graphics and suggestions for improving the game, and he just seems like a nice guy, so I brought him on board. Sbq92 will mostly be doing graphics for Super Mario Crossover and adding new skins to the game. Zach’s duties are mostly concentrated on other games we’re working on, so I thought it made sense to get someone specifically to work on SMBC graphics. Sbq92 will also mostly be in charge of looking at the skins made by the community and suggesting which ones we should add to the game.

Hopefully the team will continue to expand (I’m praying for a sound/music person to fall out of the sky… if only I was more organized at the beginning when people volunteered to do music), and hopefully I’ll eventually make enough money to pay people. Wouldn’t that be crazy? It may happen soon since we’re finally working on original content.

So things are going very well right now. I feel like after 2 years I finally made some solid plans and am moving smoothly towards them. I’m very thankful for how helpful the community has been during all this time (most of them 😉 ). There are many things I learned about games and many awesome ideas I’ve heard that have helped to improve the quality of SMBC and any future games we make. I’m sure the community will continue to expand in positive ways and will continue to be a cool place to talk about games and other stuff.

That’s all for now. I’m very excited about the future of Exploding Rabbit, SMBC, and our future games. I am very confident that we will not disappoint. Happy anniversary everyone!